Christmas hardware wishlist – headphones

The only thing better than the sound of silence is the sound of your enemy after he’s just been hit by a sniper round/flamethrower/grenade, and what better way to enjoy this sound than with top notch headphones? Here is what we want this festive season:

Sennheiser PC350 + Asus Xonar Xense

Right, we have some explaining to do. The Sennheiser PC350 is not so much a pair of headphones as a pair of headphones with it’s own bundled soundcard (well actually it’s a sound card with it’s own pair of headphones, but who’s really counting?). That being said, it has been optimised to provide the best possible sound experience for gamers and to date is one of the best sets of gaming-focused headphones I have ever had the pleasure of using.

Audio is crisp, clear, and precise, and sounds like a pair of audiophile headphones meant for music and movies has been optimised for gamers (maybe because that’s what’s happened). The PC350’s have gamer-focused features like a boom mic, but ultimately the audio quality is given paramount importance and it shows (sounds?).

Going back to anything else after experiencing the Xonar Xense and PC350s is hard, and for that reason they’re at the top of this year’s hardware wishlist.

Sennheiser PC350 and Asus Xonar Xense

Steelseries Siberia V2 purple

These headphones are pretty good – so good in fact that they scored 83 percent when MyGaming put them through their paces despite being well established (read: they’ve been on the market for ages): SteelSeries Siberia V2 purple review

This cheap all-rounder set offers the right mix of features – great sound quality for gaming, good sound quality for movies and music, and a design that is as comfortable as it is appealing. Also, purple headphones are so much cooler than the regular boring black and silver designs. Santa wants you to live a little.

SteelSeries Siberia v2 purple angle

Tritton AX Pro Gaming Headset

Offering a true 5.1 experience, the AX pro headphones from Tritton spare no expense and offer a comprehensive list of features alongside their high price tag. MyGaming gave them 90 percent after the review and summed things up with the bottom line:

“The A.X. Pro headphones are not perfect. That being said, they offer a complete feature rich package, compatibility with most gaming consoles, high quality audio while gaming and a unique trick or two that keeps them relevant in a saturated market. They are cumbersome, the external power is annoying, and the mass of cables is far from ideal. That said, if you can see past these issues, and the rather large price tag of the headset, there is no reason why you shouldn’t get the Tritton A.X. Pro gaming headphones.”

You hear that? No reason not to get them (apart from the three reasons listed that is).

Tritton A.X. Pro Gaming headset review